Cavs looking for revenge vs. Jays
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
March 25, 2006

When Virginia lacrosse player Matt Ward scored his fourth goal of the game against Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Tournament semifinals last May, UVa seemed destined for a date in the championship game.
Ward's goal put Virginia up 8-7 with only 12.9 seconds left.

However, Johns Hopkins won the ensuing faceoff, raced the ball down the field and scored with 1.4 seconds on the clock. The Blue Jays went on to win in overtime, then beat Duke to win the National Championship.

Ouch.

Today, the schools meet again. No. 1-ranked Virginia (8-0) will host No. 9 Johns Hopkins (3-2) at 1 p.m.

"It's nothing that you forget easily," said Ward, talking about last year's meltdown, "but we're going to come out and just try and beat the team that's on the field. It's a different team.

"For us, it's not about who we're playing so much. We're going to come out and try and play our best game. As long as we focus on ourselves and not who we're playing, I think we'll be successful."

Undefeated Virginia is off to its best start ever. UVa has demolished pretty much everybody in its path. With the exception of a one-goal victory over Princeton on March 12, Virginia has defeated its opponents by an average margin of 11 goals.

UVa, coming off a 14-7 win over Towson last Sunday, has the No. 1-ranked offense in the country (15 goals per game). The Cavaliers have scooped up 134 more groundballs than their opponents - a trend that Virginia coach Dom Starsia wants to see continue.

"Groundballs are an extremely overlooked factor in the success of lacrosse teams," Starsia said. "When the ball's on the ground and you're picking it up, it gives you more opportunities to score and takes away time from the other team's possibilities of scoring.

"I think if we're able to win the groundball battle and shoot well, you should see us clicking on all cylinders."

Johns Hopkins defeated Syracuse, 14-9, last Saturday. The Blue Jays are a much younger team than the one Virginia lost to last May. Most of their top players are underclassmen.

"They're a big, strong team," Starsia said. "They're big four on offense are all big, strong kids who are excellent shooters, and you're concerned about them facing off.

"You worry about solving the [Jesse] Schwartzman kid in the goal and being able to score. They're a good defensive team, so you're going to get limited good opportunities. We've got to be able to hit some of our shots and capitalize on some of the good opportunities."

Starsia was noticeably excited as he talked about the matchup.

"I don't think being No. 1 in the polls means a great deal to us," Starsia said, "but it's a pretty nice script for Hopkins coming into the game that we wound up No. 1 this week. It gives them something to sink their teeth into and has all the making of a terrific college lacrosse game."

As Virginia prepared for the game this week, Starsia tried to temper the emotions of his players. At the end of one practice, he told his team "revenge is an empty motive."

"You don't completely dismiss what happened last year, but you're not obsessed about it either," Starsia explained. "We've got a fairly mature group. I think that my guys fully understand that championships aren't won in March.

"It's likely that Hopkins and Virginia will play again during the course of the season."

Added Ward: "Everyone goes to a big program for games like this. Last year they took us out?we just want to come out and play Virginia lacrosse. We know that we can move the ball and score. We have enough good athletes on our team to play a Johns Hopkins. Hopefully we can take a step up and get another victory."

After Starsia's speech about revenge, Virginia senior defenseman Michael Culver saddled up to Starsia as the team walked off the field.

"Coach, I know what you're saying," Culver said, "but we've got to get this one."

CHECKS: The winner of the game will take home the inaugural Doyle Smith Cup, named in honor of Edward Doyle Smith, Jr., who passed away in 2004. Smith was a manager and statistician for the Johns Hopkins lacrosse team from 1963-68, then served as an assistant sports information director at Virginia for 31 years. ? Johns Hopkins leads the all-time series 54-22. The schools have tied once.

 

Cavs hope for fast start against Tigers
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
March 25, 2006

Despite bouncing back from a disappointing home loss to North Carolina with a 16-5 victory at William & Mary on Tuesday, there was a noticeable pang of frustration in Virginia women's lacrosse coach Julie Myers' voice on Friday.
Myers was talking about her players' propensity to not bounce back after sluggish starts.

"I think we're one of those teams, that if things don't fall well early for us, we get a little bit tighter," Myers said, "and before you know it we've wasted time worrying about what may not happen.

"Hopefully we've been able to talk to them about stopping that thought process early on and just playing a minute at a time. We've [told] them that when it doesn't feel right, recognize it and make little adjustments, so we can make it feel right before the game is over."

This afternoon, Virginia (7-2) will face a tough road test at Princeton (2-3). The Tigers' record is not indicative of their play. Princeton's three losses have been by a combined four goals. Plus, four of its five games have been on the road.

"It's only their sixth game of the season, so I think we have a little bit more experience on the field than they do," Myers said, "but it's going to be a battle.

"It's always a fast-paced game and really intense with a lot of pressure on the ball. We're just going to need to make sure that we're sharp and that we're quick."

Princeton is led by junior attacker Kathleen Miller. She has nine goals and six assists.

"They always have a couple of great players and then just awesome team support," Myers said. [Miller] is going to be one of the their more dominant one-on-one players, but they also have a lot of scramble players as well. They don't have huge names, but do really well as a unit."

Against William & Mary, Virginia had a well-balanced scoring attack. Nikki Lieb had three goals. Tyler Leachman, Blair Weymouth and Kate Breslin each had two.

Myers said the key to today's contest will be taking quality shots.

However, Virginia also needs to stay aggressive, Myers added.

"I don't want to get in the habit of taking crazy chances," she said, "but I think there needs to be some risk to what we're doing."

 

Virginia keeps streaking in ACC
Doolittle strikes out career-high 10 in home win
By Sean McLernon / Daily Progress correspondent
March 25, 2006

Sean Doolittle was well aware of Wake Forest's aggressiveness at the plate and when the Demon Deacon batters fell behind in the count, he knew exactly how to turn it into an advantage for the Cavaliers.
"Once they got to two strikes, I knew that if I could put the ball through [catcher] Beau Seabury's facemask - throw it right through the top of his head - that I'd get some swings at it," Doolittle said. "Whether they popped it up or they swung through it, when I executed the pitch right, it was a good result."

The sophomore southpaw mowed down a career-high 10 battters in 6.2 innings of work at Davenport Field Friday afternoon, earning the decision in No. 21 Virginia's 3-2 victory over Wake (18-6, 4-3 ACC).

The Cavaliers (21-4, 5-2) have won 16 straight home games and five ACC contests in a row.

Virginia coach Brian O'Connor handed the ball to Doolittle for the second straight Friday. Against Clemson last week, the left-hander allowed a run in the first inning but shut out the Tigers for the next seven in a 2-1 Virginia victory over the then-No. 2 ranked team in the country.

This time around, Doolittle had little trouble early on. He retired the first 14 Wake Forest batters before giving up a single to Brian Shust in the fifth.

By that point, the Cavaliers had put two runs on the board, both coming in the third inning. Shortstop Greg Miclat led the inning off with a double and center fielder Tim Henry drove him in with a single up the middle. Henry got to third on a Brandon Marsh single to shallow left field and Doolittle brought Henry home with a sacrifice fly to deep left-center.

Virginia added another run in the bottom of the fifth. A pair of singles from Miclat and Marsh followed by an intentional walk to Doolittle left the bases loaded with only one out for cleanup hitter David Adams. The freshman bounced out to second base, but Miclat was able to score.

The Demon Deacons threatened in the next frame, loading the bases with no outs, but Doolittle kept the damage minimal. He allowed only two runs and struck out designated hitter Brandon Enick on a high fastball to end the inning.

"Sean ran into a little bit of trouble, but the important thing was that he was able to pitch out of it," O'Connor said. "He only gave up two runs and we were able to still leave that inning with us leading."

Right-hander Michael Schwimer replaced Doolittle with two outs in the seventh and allowed only one hit in an inning of work before handing the ball over to closer Casey Lambert. The left-hander retired cleanup hitter Allan Dykstra to end the eighth before striking out two batters in a 1-2-3 ninth inning, earning his fourth save of the season.

The Cavaliers were swept by the Demon Deacons on the road last season. Doolittle, who did not take the mound during the series, did not forget what happened a year ago in Winston-Salem.

"I didn't get to throw against [Wake Forest] last year," Doolittle said. "So I was chomping at the bit to take the ball tonight and go right after them and attack the zone."

Marsh stayed hot at the plate for the Cavaliers, going 2 for 3 to improve his ACC-best batting average to .515 after hitting .600 last week. Miclat had two hits as well, both of them coming when the No. 9 hitter led off an inning. The freshman scored both times he reached base.

"When you get a chance to turn the lineup over like that, that's critical," O'Connor said. "The more [Miclat] produces in that nine spot, the better we're going to be."

Freshman Jacob Thompson (5-0, 2.11) takes the mound for Virginia today at 4 p.m. and senior Mike Ballard will start the series finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

PARKING: The UVa athletics department is offering a special doubleheader rate for those attending today's men's lacrosse and baseball games at UVa. Fans can use their ticket stub from the 1 p.m. lacrosse match between Virginia and Johns Hopkins to purchase a general admission ticket for the 5 p.m. Virginia baseball game against Wake Forest for just $2.

Due to anticipated large crowds for both events, those attending should be aware of three parking options. The University Hall and McQue Center lots will open at 8 a.m. After 12 p.m., the Emmet/Ivy garage will be available for parking.

There is no charge to park in any of the three lots.

 
Blue Jays, Cavaliers to meet Saturday in Charlottesville
Hopkins, Virginia to Play for The Doyle Smith Cup
Johns Hopkins-Virginia Men's Lacrosse Notes
March 24, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA--The lacrosse programs at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Virginia have joined together to honor Edward Doyle Smith Jr., for his lifetime of contributions to the lacrosse programs at both schools and on the national level. Beginning with Saturday's game between the two schools, the game will each season be played for The Doyle Smith Cup. The Blue Jays and Cavaliers have their annual clash at 1 pm at Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville.

"Our coaching staff and players are excited to be a part of something that honors Doyle Smith, a man who dedicated so much of his time and energy to the sport of lacrosse," Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse coach Dave Pietramala said. "This is a wonderful tribute to Doyle and the Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse program is proud to pay tribute to him for all that he did for this game."

Smith served as team manager and statistician for Johns Hopkins under head coach Bob Scott from 1963-1968. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1966 and earned a masters degree in 1968. He received the Barton Cup for academic excellence and the H Club Cup for contributions to athletics at Johns Hopkins.

He worked as an assistant sports information director at the University of Virginia from 1968 until his retirement in 1999, serving as the lacrosse team's statistician for four head coaches--Buddy Beardmore, Glenn Thiel, Jim Adams and Dom Starsia.

On the national level, Smith is credited with the standardization of game statistics. He was the Information Director for the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) and twice received their Man of the Year Award. The USILA media award bears his name. In 2000 he was elected to the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame as the first only non-player and coach ever selected. Smith passed away in June 2004.

At halftime a commemorative plaque will be presented to each school. Former head coach Bob Scott of Johns Hopkins and former University of Virginia head coach Jim Adams will accept on behalf of the lacrosse programs. At the conclusion of the game, Bob Sandell, a 1951 graduate of Johns Hopkins, UVa lacrosse coach from 1955-58, longtime official and Hall of Fame member will present the First Doyle Smith Cup.


 

Zimmerman reached majors in just 85 daysBy Jayson Stark
ESPN.com
Archive

BRADENTON, Fla. -- And now for something completely different -- a Washington Nationals story that doesn't involve Alfonso Soriano.

Or leases. Or owners. Or Luis Ayala's ulnar collateral ligament. Or that ever-popular baseball-loving gang, the D.C. Council.

What we have here, actually, is a story that, in its own way, is more incredible than all of that.

It's a story about a guy who, a year ago this time, was watching his college buddies at the University of Virginia head off for spring break.

And now, a year later, we find Ryan Zimmerman, just 21 years old, in the first spring-training camp of his life. But it's a spring training that no other active position players in the big leagues can relate to -- because what's happened to Ryan Zimmerman has never happened to them.

He isn't just trying to make a good first impression. He isn't counting the days until the Nationals send him back to Harrisburg or Potomac. He isn't even competing for a job.

That's because he knew -- the day he arrived for his first spring training -- he already had a job. As the starting third baseman. In the big leagues. In real life.

"I'm the first to admit," Zimmerman said, "this is a pretty unique situation."

Yeah, but it's more unusual, we bet, than he even realizes. We racked our brain all spring trying to think of another player who rolled into his first spring training with his name already scrawled in an Opening Day lineup. Couldn't recall any.

Will Clark? Nope. J.D. Drew? Sorry. Mark Teixeira? Uh-uh. Darin Erstad, Khalil Greene, Troy Glaus? No, no and no again.

Many say Zimmerman plays Gold Glove-caliber defense at third base. To find someone else like this, you're going to have to rewind the tape for two whole decades -- to Pete Incaviglia in 1986. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Incaviglia was the last position player to start 120 games the season after he was drafted.

In fact, even if you want to go back 30 years, you add only three other names to this list: Bob Horner in 1979, and Paul Molitor and Ozzie Smith in 1978. And the last before them was Dave Winfield in 1974.

That's not exactly a list with a bunch of schlubs on it. That's five guys who played in a combined 33 All-Star Games. Three (Winfield, Molitor and Ozzie) made the Hall of Fame. And Horner, Molitor and Ozzie all finished first or second in the Rookie of the Year voting.

So the historical context alone tells you that Zimmerman has a chance to be Not Just Another Player. But then you listen to some of the other names that are getting tossed into the Ryan Zimmerman conversations this spring. Names like …

Albert Pujols?

"He reminds me of Pujols when he was first coming up," said former Cardinals hitting coach Mitchell Page, now the hitting coach in Washington. "I'm not talking about hitting because they've got different styles of hitting. I'm talking about makeup.

"He just has that demeanor. He's not worrying about 'What can I do?' It's 'I have a game plan, and all I'm worrying about is sticking with the plan.' Taking all the distractions around him and shutting them out. He's a lot like Pujols in that he's a guy who said, 'I'm here to do a job, and I'm going to do it.' Pujols didn't want to just be good. He wanted to be great. And this guy is showing me some of the same signs."

But Pujols isn't even the Cardinal to whom Zimmerman is most compared. It's shocking how often scouts call him a Scott Rolen-type defensive player -- if only because, until now, we weren't aware there were any other Scott Rolen-type defensive players.

"I don't like to compare 20- or 21-year-olds with a guy like Scott Rolen who has been doing it for 10 years," said Nationals director of baseball administration Lee MacPhail. "But … he has the attributes to be in that class.

"Usually, it's hard, when you're scouting [an amateur player], to see a guy one game and have him really stand out defensively. A shortstop maybe. But almost never a third baseman. Usually, you have to see him play two or three times. But when I went in to see Zimmerman (at Virginia), in the first three innings, he made a great play to his left, a great play to his right and another play on a slow roller, where you said, 'Wow.' "

But MacPhail projects Zimmerman as also being a Rolen-type offensive player: "He may not have 40-homer power," MacPhail said. "But we're talking average, doubles power and some homer power. And Gold Glove defense."

Scott Rolen. Albert Pujols. OK, let's remind ourselves again we're talking about a guy who has spent precisely 32 days in the big leagues. Even Zimmerman himself uses words like "amazing" and "ridiculous" to describe the names being dropped on him.

"It's great to be put in the same sentence with those guys, or even thought of as being close to those guys," he said. "But what I try to do is just funnel it in and funnel it out -- and just try to be me, because that's why I'm here."

The trail that led Zimmerman here isn't your usual tale, either. Because he wasn't the first player picked in the draft last June. He was the fourth.
And he wasn't even the first third baseman taken in that draft. He was the second, behind Alex Gordon, who went No. 2 overall to the Royals.

And what's especially tough for our hard drives to format is that Zimmerman wasn't drafted out of high school.

Matter of fact, not so long ago, this guy was one of the least-talked-about players on his own Virginia Beach youth travel team. Of course, the kids playing ahead of him on the left side of the infield on that team did turn out OK. They happened to be David Wright and B.J. Upton.

So it wasn't until two summers ago, when Zimmerman picked up his wood bat for Team USA and rolled up the highest batting average (.468) in national team history, that the world started to get the idea we might have The Natural on our hands here.

"If I hadn't had that success for Team USA, you never know what would have happened," Zimmerman said. "That's where all the hype came from. It all came up pretty quickly. Before that, people looked at me, but nothing like after that summer."

But as last June's draft approached, the teams picking 1-2 (the Diamondbacks and Royals) seemed locked in on Justin Upton (B.J.'s little brother) or Gordon. Still, every once in a while, you'd hear some other team's scouting director say: "You know, the best kid in that whole draft might be Ryan Zimmerman."

Every member of the Nationals brass who saw him -- from scouting director Dana Brown to MacPhail to general manager Jim Bowden -- came away with hearts thumping. So they didn't need any more convincing. But before picking him, one thing they did do was to offer him more than just money.

They also dangled this opportunity, to take the express elevator to the big leagues.

“ Here you've got a 21-year-old kid breaking into the big leagues, and nobody's talking about him. ... That might be a good thing. He's been able to stay below the radar. ”
— Lee MacPhail, Nationals director of baseball administration
Sounded good to him. So Zimmerman did something unthinkable in this era: He signed (for $2.975) million on draft day.

He was playing in the South Atlantic League two weeks later (where he batted.471). He was in Double-A four days after that (where he hit .326). And he made the journey from draft day to the big leagues in precisely 85 days -- beating everyone else in his draft class.

Whereupon all he did in September was bat .397 -- with 10 doubles in his first 57 at-bats. He's the only player in the history of the sport to hit that many doubles in a season in which he didn't even get 60 at-bats.

So given those September numbers, it's incredible he hasn't heard himself compared with George Brett, Wade Boggs and Ted Williams, too, this spring.

"His knowledge of the game is unreal," said teammate Marlon Byrd. "I remember a game last year where we were facing John Smoltz, and he was talking about setting Smoltz up. So he goes up and Smoltz throws him slider out there, slider out there, and this guy's waiting on his fastball. When he got it, he didn't dive out. He just let it come to him. That was his thought process. Man. I didn't figure that out till last year."

No matter how out of control the accolades get, though, the most impressive thing about Ryan Zimmerman isn't his glove or his bat. It's his head. He has a quiet polish and a presence you don't see in many 31-year-olds, let alone any 21-year-olds.

"I'll put it this way," said Page. "You don't know he's around -- but you notice him."

This is a fellow who constantly talks about how "lucky" he is, how he doesn't "want to do anything to disrespect the older guys," how "you've got to put your dues in" before all this ballyhoo becomes anything more than talk. This guy is so polite and respectful, he makes Jerome Bettis sound like T.O.

"A lot of people ask me, 'How does it feel, being so young and not having to go through a minor-league camp?'" he said. "But I mean, I can't feel bad about it. I have to remind myself, 'Nobody's giving it to you. You earn everything you get.' They don't put you on the field up here just to make you feel good."

So now he's prepared to earn it -- one at-bat, one ground ball at a time. He knows he'll never hit .397 again. But .300 isn't out of the question. Meanwhile, the biggest worry some teams had about him before the draft was whether he'd have enough power to be a true all-star corner infielder. Zimmerman promptly went out and hit nine homers in only 233 at-bats in Double-A.

"In college, he had a hitch in his swing," said MacPhail. "So there were some concerns about how his power would play out and how he'd handle better stuff. But he got to pro ball, and he adjusted. He dropped his hands and smoothed out that hitch."

And as assistant GM/director of player personnel Bob Boone said, "the best part was, he did it on his own."

"He asks a lot of questions you don't expect a rookie to ask," Page said. "He talks about things you don't expect a rookie to talk about. Like one day this spring, I wasn't happy with his front foot. I went to him, and he said, 'I know, I know. I've got to quiet that down.' You bring stuff up, and he knows exactly what you're saying. So next at-bat, he went up and hit a line drive to right. He knows how to adjust. It doesn't take him a week to make adjustments."

He's one of the best stories of the spring -- and almost nobody is telling it. But that can happen when the left fielder refuses to go to left field, no one knows who's going to own the team and everybody in town is fighting over the new ballpark.

"Here you've got a 21-year-old kid breaking into the big leagues, and nobody's talking about him," MacPhail said. "It's lost with the Soriano story and all the other stuff going on. But you know? That might be a good thing. He's been able to stay below the radar."

Yep, but not for long, we bet. As the media hordes descend on Soriano-gate, they're bound to notice one of these days that while the new left fielder can't play left field, the new third baseman in town can sure play the heck out of third base.


 

Goals are painful for Huntley
With 16 in five games, Hopkins sophomore is opposition target, and he accepts lumps
By Gary Lambrecht
Sun reporter
Originally published March 25, 2006
College Lacrosse

Kevin Huntley has a nose for the goal, and the Johns Hopkins sophomore attackman does not mind getting it bloodied as he makes his way there.

Huntley collects bumps, bruises, turf burn and other ailments with a frequency that matches his ability to make an opponent pay by doing what he does best. The former Calvert Hall star, who is the son of the most prolific goal-scoring midfielder in Hopkins history, is the pure finisher who sparks the offense for the No. 10 Blue Jays.

And no one invites and handles more abuse from the opposition. You can usually find Huntley mixing it up in close with one or two defenders as he battles for position. He often takes a body check or a hard slash as he dodges before shooting, and he'll absorb a knockdown after winning another battle by scoring.

To Huntley, a left-hander who has scored 16 goals and has six assists - both team highs - it's worth it.

"You can't be afraid to take the hit," Huntley said. "I've always played that way. I took quite a beating in high school. I'm not afraid to put my shoulder down and get into the middle and invite the contact. I'm not the quickest guy. I'm probably not going to get a shot off without getting hit."

"People [on defense] take some liberties with him, but Kevin never complains. He never retaliates," Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala said. "He takes a tremendous beating and he's pretty unflappable."

The coaching staff at Homewood still is wondering what it might be like to have Huntley, 5 feet 10, 180 pounds, healthy for an entire school year.

During the first week of his freshman fall season, he broke his left thumb and was out for several months. Last fall, he broke his right thumb during the second week of fall ball and had to shut down his spring preparations once again. Then, during a February scrimmage against Georgetown, he got pushed to the ground and injured his wrist. That hampered him until recently.

Through it all, Huntley has continued to find the goal. A year ago, after Huntley got some limited playing time in the Blue Jays' first four games, then-senior attackman Kyle Barrie went down with a sprained ankle against Virginia. That forced Pietramala to turn the freshman loose, and Huntley responded.

During a six-minute span in the fourth quarter, Huntley torched the Cavaliers for three goals. He finished with five points and was the pivotal player in a 9-7 Hopkins victory. That started a run in 2005 that included four game-winning goals and a team-high seven goals in the NCAA tournament, which the Blue Jays won for their first national title since 1987.

When Hopkins (3-2) plays at top-ranked Virginia (8-0) today, it will trot out a finisher who, dating to last year's coming-out party against the Cavaliers, has amassed 37 goals and 12 assists. So far this season, Huntley has set the tone in victories over UMBC and Syracuse with five-goal games and has two other hat tricks. The days of covering him with a short-stick defender are long gone.

"[Huntley] showed last year that if you put a short stick on him, you're toast," Hopkins junior attackman Jake Byrne said. "He uses his body to create space. He has such an excellent left hand, and he can get open to his left no matter how much you guard against it. I think Kevin is probably the toughest player on our team."

Huntley's lineage helps explain his approach. His father, Dave, helped lead Hopkins to back-to-back NCAA titles in 1978 and 1979 and scored 100 goals in his career.

A native of Toronto, Dave grew up around the Canadian indoor game and later coached several indoor teams in the National Lacrosse League, including the Baltimore Thunder. He also has coached three Canadian world teams, and in recent years coached the Baltimore Bayhawks of the Major Lacrosse League.

Kevin, a Baltimore native, started spending considerable time with his father around professional players about 10 years ago. They included Gary Gait while he was widely considered the world's top player.

Kevin would play for Gait when he coached the Canadian under-19 team at the 2003 world championships. At 16, Kevin scored 16 goals to lead Canada to a silver medal. He also spent two summers in Canada playing box lacrosse, a wide-open game that lends itself to lots of contact all over the field.

"Kevin is very professional in his approach to the game. He's not emotional about it. He's all business," Dave said. "I took him on the road with me a lot, and he grew up around guys like Gary Gait and Paul Gait. He saw how they handled themselves.

"He's not too affected by stuff. When you carry the ball like he does and you wait that extra second [before shooting], you know you're going to get tagged."

Said Kevin: "Sometimes I'll be watching myself [get hit] on film, and I'll go, 'Ooo, that one hurt.' But I just don't feel it during the game. It doesn't bother me anymore. I'm so used to it."
 

legacy and the prevailing opinion was, Redick couldn’t win the big one.

Oddly, the first thing that struck me on the way to the media work room Thursday night was that the best game I ever saw Redick play was in the biggest game of his career – the biggest game before he got to college, that is.

That was in the championship game of the 2002 Group AA boys’ basketball tournament, when Redick scored 43 points for Cave Spring in a 70-62 victory over George Wythe of Richmond.

When Redick returned to the Duke locker room Thursday night after an appearance in the media interview room, I intended to ask him if he had an image of how his career might end – whether it might be a Cave Spring-like event – and whether he was stunned by the outcome Thursday.

Duke officials told the media that Redick would be available for two minutes when he returned to the locker room, and that timetable was strictly reinforced. Once the TV reporters got their cameras out of his face, time was up and questions remained unasked.

WHILE REFLECTING BACK on the differences between Redick’s final college game and his final game at Cave Spring, the corner of my eye caught Isaiah Thomas, waiting among a group of reporters who were being restrained by ushers as the teams left the floor.

Thomas is the president and the general manager of the New York Knicks and I know he wasn’t in Atlanta just as a spectator. I assume he was at the Georgia Dome at least partly to scout Redick and Duke’s other senior, All-American.

He had to like Shelden Williams, who finished with game highs of 23 points and 13 rebounds, but what might scare some pro people is Williams’ height (6 foot 8). Opponents don’t block Williams’ shots in the ACC, but the ACC was shy on quality post players, and Williams rarely was challenged as he was Thursday night.

On one of the Atlanta sports-talk stations, it was speculated that Redick had dropped from a possible No. 8 or 9 selection in the first round of the NBA Draft to a late first-round selection. I don’t know if those projections had any basis in fact – I tend to doubt it – but I can understand how talk-show hosts might think that way.

What would cause Redick to go 13-for-60 in NCAA elimination games? Could it be nerves? Possibly. What makes more sense is that the talent level increases with each stage of the NCAA Tournament and that Redick doesn’t fare as well against better athletes, the kind he is going to face in the NBA.

On the other hand, LSU coach John Brady geared his whole defensive strategy to stopping Redick, assigning coverage duties to long-armed, 6-foot-5 freshman Garrett Temple but admitting that the Tigers were committed to double-teaming Redick every time he got the ball.

LSU could get away with that because of the inconsistent production that Duke has been getting from everybody else but Williams. But when Redick gets with more talented teammates in the NBA – the ones who play for the successful teams that draft in the second half of the first round – teams won’t be able to afford all-out double teams.

WHILE TRYING TO make my case for a media credential to the Final Four, a computer search of The Roanoke Times revealed 535 stories on Redick since he first caught people’s attention as a freshman at Cave Spring.

That number is probably closer to 550 by now and I can understand how some people might be tired of Redick, his family, Duke, etc. I’m looking forward to taking something of a break myself.

There wasn’t much time to gather notes before Redick, Duke and I checked out of the regional (I would have stayed if West Virginia had won), but I was party to a conversation involving two Roanoke Times alumni, Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star and Jack “Pops” Bogaczyk of the Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail.

One week earlier, another Roanoke Times graduate, Philadelphia Daily News columnist John Smallwood, had been at an adjoining laptop at the Greensboro (N.C.) first-round site. Smallwood and I had lunch there with ex-Roanoke Times sports editor Bill Brill, who was giving his thoughts on the NCAA field (surprise, surprise).

(I still remember Smallwood by his old nickname, “Mr. Lambada,” which he picked up after agreeing to join one of the female reporters who was going to take dancing lessons as part of a story. The story fell through when the female reporter feared that she might be linked romantically with Smallwood, who never took the lessons but still enters my mind whenever I see the reality show, “Dancing With the Stars.”)

In any case, Kerkhoff and I were talking Thursday when Bogaczyk approached our table, at which point Kerkhoff asked him about the possibility of West Virginia coach John Beilein being interested in the job opening at Missouri.

Bogaczyk said he wasn’t aware of Beilein’s interest in the Missouri job, which came open when Quin Snyder resigned under pressure, but he said that Beilein is something of a St. Louis Cardinals fanatic and often brings up the Cardinals in conversation.

Ex-Richmond coach Beilein signed a new contract last year, at least partly out of concern for an opening at Virginia, and presumably he has a healthy buyout. It was Kerkhoff’s contention that Missouri might be able to negotiate down the buyout and Bogaczyk didn’t disagree.

Just as interesting was a discussion of a possible successor to Beilein at West Virginia, where continued success would make him an attractive job candidate every year. I mentioned Withrop coach Gregg Marshall, a one-time Marshall assistant who impressed me at the Greensboro games.

While Bogaczyk couldn’t speak to WVU’s potential interest in Marshall, he did observe that there would not be a natural front-runner as a possible Beilein successor.
 

Redick’s college finale doesn’t live up to Cave Spring standards
Beilein topic of speculation again
Doug Doughty

Friday would not have been a good time for J.J. Redick to be taking a driving tour of metropolitan Atlanta while listening to talk radio.

Given my avoidance of plane travel and facing a 6 1/2-hour drive back to Roanoke, I, of course, had plenty of time to listen to the radio.

The only way that Redick could have been hit any worse is if Gonzaga hadn’t blown a 17-point second-half lead that left Redick’s buddy, a disconsolate Adam Morrison, lying in the middle of the floor with 2.1 seconds still remaining.

At least Morrison scored 24 points, hitting 10 of 18 shots from the field. Redick finished with 11 in Duke’s 62-54 loss to LSU and went 3-of-18 from the field, a statistic that no morning traveler was spared.

What many of the talk-show hosts didn’t know was that Redick had a career-long pattern of shooting poorly in season-ending NCAA losses. It was even worse than my initial calculations (14-of-60) indicated.

With time to recheck my math, that number actually should have been 13-for-60. Broken down, that was 2-for-16 against Kansas in 2003, 4-for-12 against Connecticut in 2004 and 4-for-14 against Michigan State last year.

In those four NCAA Tournament losses, Redick made a combined three field goals from inside the arc.

There was considerable talk about Redick’s legacy and the prevailing opinion was, Redick couldn’t win the big one.

Oddly, the first thing that struck me on the way to the media work room Thursday night was that the best game I ever saw Redick play was in the biggest game of his career – the biggest game before he got to college, that is.

That was in the championship game of the 2002 Group AA boys’ basketball tournament, when Redick scored 43 points for Cave Spring in a 70-62 victory over George Wythe of Richmond.

When Redick returned to the Duke locker room Thursday night after an appearance in the media interview room, I intended to ask him if he had an image of how his career might end – whether it might be a Cave Spring-like event – and whether he was stunned by the outcome Thursday.

Duke officials told the media that Redick would be available for two minutes when he returned to the locker room, and that timetable was strictly reinforced. Once the TV reporters got their cameras out of his face, time was up and questions remained unasked.

WHILE REFLECTING BACK on the differences between Redick’s final college game and his final game at Cave Spring, the corner of my eye caught Isaiah Thomas, waiting among a group of reporters who were being restrained by ushers as the teams left the floor.

Thomas is the president and the general manager of the New York Knicks and I know he wasn’t in Atlanta just as a spectator. I assume he was at the Georgia Dome at least partly to scout Redick and Duke’s other senior, All-American.

He had to like Shelden Williams, who finished with game highs of 23 points and 13 rebounds, but what might scare some pro people is Williams’ height (6 foot 8). Opponents don’t block Williams’ shots in the ACC, but the ACC was shy on quality post players, and Williams rarely was challenged as he was Thursday night.

On one of the Atlanta sports-talk stations, it was speculated that Redick had dropped from a possible No. 8 or 9 selection in the first round of the NBA Draft to a late first-round selection. I don’t know if those projections had any basis in fact – I tend to doubt it – but I can understand how talk-show hosts might think that way.

What would cause Redick to go 13-for-60 in NCAA elimination games? Could it be nerves? Possibly. What makes more sense is that the talent level increases with each stage of the NCAA Tournament and that Redick doesn’t fare as well against better athletes, the kind he is going to face in the NBA.

On the other hand, LSU coach John Brady geared his whole defensive strategy to stopping Redick, assigning coverage duties to long-armed, 6-foot-5 freshman Garrett Temple but admitting that the Tigers were committed to double-teaming Redick every time he got the ball.

LSU could get away with that because of the inconsistent production that Duke has been getting from everybody else but Williams. But when Redick gets with more talented teammates in the NBA – the ones who play for the successful teams that draft in the second half of the first round – teams won’t be able to afford all-out double teams.

WHILE TRYING TO make my case for a media credential to the Final Four, a computer search of The Roanoke Times revealed 535 stories on Redick since he first caught people’s attention as a freshman at Cave Spring.

That number is probably closer to 550 by now and I can understand how some people might be tired of Redick, his family, Duke, etc. I’m looking forward to taking something of a break myself.

There wasn’t much time to gather notes before Redick, Duke and I checked out of the regional (I would have stayed if West Virginia had won), but I was party to a conversation involving two Roanoke Times alumni, Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star and Jack “Pops” Bogaczyk of the Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail.

One week earlier, another Roanoke Times graduate, Philadelphia Daily News columnist John Smallwood, had been at an adjoining laptop at the Greensboro (N.C.) first-round site. Smallwood and I had lunch there with ex-Roanoke Times sports editor Bill Brill, who was giving his thoughts on the NCAA field (surprise, surprise).

(I still remember Smallwood by his old nickname, “Mr. Lambada,” which he picked up after agreeing to join one of the female reporters who was going to take dancing lessons as part of a story. The story fell through when the female reporter feared that she might be linked romantically with Smallwood, who never took the lessons but still enters my mind whenever I see the reality show, “Dancing With the Stars.”)

In any case, Kerkhoff and I were talking Thursday when Bogaczyk approached our table, at which point Kerkhoff asked him about the possibility of West Virginia coach John Beilein being interested in the job opening at Missouri.

Bogaczyk said he wasn’t aware of Beilein’s interest in the Missouri job, which came open when Quin Snyder resigned under pressure, but he said that Beilein is something of a St. Louis Cardinals fanatic and often brings up the Cardinals in conversation.

Ex-Richmond coach Beilein signed a new contract last year, at least partly out of concern for an opening at Virginia, and presumably he has a healthy buyout. It was Kerkhoff’s contention that Missouri might be able to negotiate down the buyout and Bogaczyk didn’t disagree.

Just as interesting was a discussion of a possible successor to Beilein at West Virginia, where continued success would make him an attractive job candidate every year. I mentioned Withrop coach Gregg Marshall, a one-time Marshall assistant who impressed me at the Greensboro games.

While Bogaczyk couldn’t speak to WVU’s potential interest in Marshall, he did observe that there would not be a natural front-runner as a possible Beilein successor.